Railway track and rails.



E. NORWOOD. RAILWAY TRACK AND RAILS.

APPLICATION IILBD JUNE 12, 1911.

Patented D60.26, 1911.

WITNESSES VENTOR v 549N557 UAW 000 v w ma /ms,

COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH co., WASHINGTON. u. c.

EARNEST NORWOOD, OF WINONA, MINNESOTA.

RAILWAY TRACK AND RAILS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 26, 1911.

Application filed June 12, 1911. Serial No. 632,545.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EARNEST NoRWooD, a citizen of the United States, andresiding at l/Vinona, in the county of l/Vinona and State of Minnesota,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Railway Tracks andRails, of which the following is a specification, such as will enablethose skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use thesame.

This invention relates to railway tracks and rails and the objectthereof is to provide a railway bed construction involving parallelrails composed of and connected integrally by concrete whereby aperfectly solid and secure railway track may be formed; a further objectbeing to provide a concrete railway bed forming a part of an electricrailway system and with this and other objects in view the inventionconsists in a railway bed or track constructed as hereinafter describedand claimed.

The invention is fully disclosed in the following specification, ofwhich the accompanying drawing forms a part, in which the separate partsof my improvement are designated by suitable reference characters ineach of the views, and in which:

Figure 1 is a transverse section of a railway track made according to myinvention and showing a car mounted thereon, and; Fig. 2 a side viewthereof.

In the practice of my invention I first provide a proper surface orearth bed for the railway track on which are placed suitable molds ofthe class usually employed in forming concrete walls or otherstructures, and in these molds are cast or molded two parallel railmembers a connected at intervals by cross-ties b, said rails and tiesbeing cast integrally and being also provided, if desired, with bindingor reinforcing rods which are passed therethrough transversely of therails, or the entire bed may be cast or formed in this manner, the outerside portions thereof being shaped as hereinafter described to form therails of the track.

The outside surfaces of the rails a are provided' about midway of theirheight with longitudinal grooves c which open outwardly and upwardly andwhich form tracks or ways on which the wheels (Z of the car rest andmove, and said tracks are preferably reinforced by T-shaped steelfacings 6 having a downwardly directed flange e and an upwardly directedflange e and the flanges 6 hold the plates 6, while the flanges 6protect the adjacent inner faces of the walls f of the rails formed bythe grooves c and are bolted to the body of the rails as shown at g.

The body of the rails a above the grooves c are provided with raisedlongitudinal parts in the outer faces of which are formed longitudinalgrooves h which open outwardly and in which are secured rails 2' whichserve as conductors and the framework or truck work of the car isprovided with a hanger or hangers having contact shoes j adapted to bearon the outer sides or surfaces of the rails 2', and said rails orconductors i are thus protected or shielded and the danger of coming incontact therewith when walking across or over the track is avoided.

My invention is not limited to the use of the steel plates 6 forreinforcing the tracks or ways on which the wheels 62 rest, nor to theuse of the conductors 2' and said improvement may be employed in theconstruction of steam railways or railways of any kind or class andwhile I have described the parts a as rails, it will be apparent thatthe entire roadway including the side portions and connecting cross-tiemembers may be formed as one bed and the side portions thereof may beprovided, as herein shown and described, with tracks or ways on whichthe wheels rest; and while I have also shown the wheels (Z as beingwithout rims, said wheels being held on the tracks or ways by theshoulders f, it will also be understood that my invention is not limitedto these forms of construction and changes in and modifications of thevarious parts of the construction herein shown and described may bemade, within the scope of the appended claims, without departing fromthe spirit of my invention, or sacrificing its advantages.

Having fully described my invention what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is:

1. Aconcrete railway bed, comprising parallel side portionsintegrally'connected, said side portions being provided with tracks orways for the wheels of a car and said side portions being also providedinwardly of said tracks or ways with raised longitudinal parts providedin their outer faces with lon gitudinal recesses which open outwardly,and conductor rails secured in said recesses.

2. A concrete railway bed, comprising parallel side portions integrallyconnected, In testimony that I claim the foregoing 10 said side portionsbeing provided With as my invention I have signed my name in tracks orWays for the Wheels of a car and presence of the subscribing Witnessesthis sfaid tracks or Ways being provided with steel 7th day of June1911.

acin s, and said side ortions bein also provided inwardly of sz iidtracks or ways EARNEST NORVVOOD' With raised longitudinal parts providedin WVitnesses:

their outer faces with longitudinal recesses Ronnnr E. LooBY, andconductor ralls secured 1n sald recesses. FLORENCE M. NORWOOD.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C.

